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Pegasoferae is a superorder of mammals that has recently been proposed on the basis of genomic research in molecular systematics by Nishihara, Hasegawa and Okada (2006). To the surprise of the authors, their data led them to propose a clade that includes bats (order Chiroptera), carnivores such as cats and dogs (order Carnivora), horses and their relatives (order Perissodactyla) and pangolins (order Pholidota) as springing from a single evolutionary origin within the mammals. According to this, the odd-toed ungulates closest relatives are the carnivores. Earlier theories of mammalian evolution would, for example, have aligned bats with the insectivores and horses with the even-toed ungulates.
[edit] References
- Nishihara, H., Hasegawa, M., & Okada, N. (2006). Pegasoferae, an unexpected mammalian clade revealed by tracking ancient retroposon insertions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 103, 9929-9934.
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